Chapter 24

It is nearly two am by the time I crawl into bed. My newly recalled memories are still a jumble of isolated facts which I can’t yet piece into a coherent story. Unfortunately, Tom and Mistress Lyn are not going to be any help to me in resolving the mystery. I don’t like keeping secrets from from Tom, but his recent actions have made it clear that he has been keeping secrets from me. I refuse to believe that he means me any harm, but until I know more I don’t feel that I can trust him with my suspicions about The Manor.

I sleep soundly despite my concerns. The combination of the beer and the sex before bed means Tom doesn’t wake for his usual middle-of-the-night fuck. We both wake early the next morning and after breakfast I take my daily run. With it being Sunday, Tom decides to join me on my run. He’s out of practise, and he has difficulty keeping pace with me. I modify my usual route to keep near bus stops in case Tom needs to drop out early. Sure enough he calls it quits after covering about a third of the route, and he leaves me to complete the circuit on my own.

My revised route passes through parts of the town I once knew but haven’t visited since my return with Tom. The orphanage where Tom and I lived during our teenage years is nearby. Unlike Tom, I wasn’t allowed out of the orphanage very often, but some of the local shops and the park are familiar. I decide to take a detour and pass the orphanage to see if it helps put some of the jumbled pieces of my memory in place. I reach the building I recall being my home for five years. Memories flood back into my mind when I see the stark grey buildings of Sunnybridge. The iron gates and tall surrounding fence give the appearance of a prison rather than a home for children. A security guard at the gate comes over to me as I gawk at the building before me.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” asks the guard.

“Um ... No. Thanks. I used to live here. I was just reliving some memories.”

“Hmm. We don’t get many former residents returning here. Most are simply glad to be gone from the place, and they never want to return.”

I return home more confused than ever. A host of suppressed memories were triggered by the sight of Sunnybridge. Some of those memories are pleasant; ones of forgotten friends. The women I now know as Fillies at the pony club were known to me long before I became in thrall to Mistress Lyn. Belinda, now Blue. Dawn, now Yellow. Zara, now White. The twins, Maia and Kele, now Black and Navy. Only Pink and Green are new acquaintances to me.

Other memories are less welcome, and leave me doubting if all my earlier memories of Sunnybridge are true. I’m not sure if what I’ve discovered is going to be helpful or not. I’ve moved from a state of too little information, to one of having more information than I really want to know. More accurately, I now have more information than is safe for me to know. If anybody connected to Sunnybridge realises I know what I do, then they will surely use something stronger than their wand to wipe my memories for good. I suddenly wonder whether the disappearance of the two missing Fillies is because they discovered too much.